Nebraska Player Quotes: Corey McKeon

Nebraska Weekly Press Conference

Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007

Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)

Pre-Iowa State

 

Corey McKeon

Senior, Linebacker

 

On criticism of defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove

“It is part of the game. It is the fist time since he has been here that we have let teams put up those kinds of numbers on us. We’re still getting wins, except for the USC game. He is taking heat, and we’re feeling it just as much as he is. It is stressful to try to do your job when people are scrutinizing you like he is. Coach Cosgrove is a great coach. He is a fiery leader. During the game he doesn’t panic. You just watch him and you feed off him. He is a great guy, and I think he is taking a little more heat than he needs to be.”

 

On the defense’s feeling after the BallState game

“Good, we won. Put us in at 3-1 in the non-conference going into the Big 12. We didn’t play very well, but at times where we needed to play, we played. Bo (Ruud) had a big play for the defense that got us right back in the game. We held up the last drive to force a missed field goal. We’ll take it. I don’t care if teams put 1,200 yards on, if we get the win, I don’t care.”

 

On his concerns on the field

“I think it is just a lack of energy and motivation in guys. I can’t sit up here and issue a challenge to anyone. I am just as guilty as anyone. I am just not getting the feeling that I used to get on the field with these guys, and it is accountability on everyone on the defense. It is not just the starters or the Blackshirts. It is not just on Coach Cosgrove. It is on the whole defense, it is on our offense, our special teams. We aren’t getting that feeling, that emotion of having fun and dominating people. I think once this defense takes a shot in the mouth, we kind of back off a little bit, and we try to feel our way out of it instead of coming back at it. That comes from having new guys on the field and not having them mold together. We have the talent, we have the players, we just need that third aspect of energy. We really lack that out there, and I think that is what has hurt us. I knew that was going to hurt us on the field. I said that a long time ago that we need guys to step up motivation wise, and we have not seen it.”

 

On the Blackshirts losing pride

“No, no loss of pride. We understand that people are going to move the ball on us. When I first came in, I came from high school football just like everyone else, in which they say no one moves the ball on us. You have to realize it is college football. Look at what is happening to teams this year. It does not matter who you play, people are moving the ball any way you look at it. Coach Cosgrove says our goal is we want to keep people under 300 yards. Everyone has this mindset that we should not let them do anything, and that is not realistic. Look what happened to Michigan earlier in the year. They got beat by Appalachian State, and that’s a good team. Everyone could beat everyone. That is the point of college football these days. Losing pride has nothing to do with it. The Blackshirts are going to be the Blackshirts regardless. Is it a fact that guys need to step up? Yeah, I need to step up. Everyone needs to step up. Is there a lack of pride? No, I would still fit our 11 guys to go to war against any team. I don’t care who it is. There is no issue with pride at all.”

 

On feeling scrutinized by fans

 “Very much, I get it just like Coach Cosgrove gets it. Believe it or not, I can’t go anywhere after a game like that, after being scrutinized like that. I can’t do anything. You think it just ends on the field with the fans booing us? No, it doesn’t end there. It does not end anywhere. It is hard for me to go to class after playing the way I played. It is hard to sit there knowing that everyone around me is looking at me thinking something. It is hard to do that. It is hard on these athletes regardless of what you think. Even on offense, if someone does not play well they feel it. If someone plays great you feel it the next day. I love our offense. I was just talking to Mo (Purify), and he knows it is not on our defense. We could have scored three touchdowns on special teams. There are chances of that, but it didn’t happen. The scrutiny Coach Cosgrove is taking, he is not the only one. Everyone is feeling it. You guys saw what (Steve) Octavien said. He is feeling it, and he is playing great ball. Out of our linebackers, Steve is playing amazing, and he is taking it and feeling it. I am proud to play with a guy like that who takes heat, and he does not need to take heat. He is playing great ? he is playing the best out of everyone ? but he feels it. He feels it for us, and he is willing to show that emotion and I like that.”

 

On not playing late in the fourth quarter of the BallState game

“Just the way the rotation was going. With Lance (Brandenburgh) down, I am going to be playing more of the WILL. We knew going into the game about their personal groupings, they used No. 88 as a wide receiver, so Coach knew that there was going to be a lot of nickel downs and dime downs, packages that I was going to be in. So Phillip Dillard was playing a lot of the base. We rotate the base spot a lot. Phil has to play the defensive line spot too, so Coach Cosgrove knew that he was not going to be able to get a lot of guys breaks on the hot day. So Coach was making sure everyone was fresh, and when Lance went down, it couldn’t have happened at worst time. We needed Lance more than anyone. If you watch Lance play, there aren’t a lot of guys that equal his play on the field. On special teams, he is dominant. With every play he comes in on defense, he does great. Mentally, he is perfect. (Lance) being down is another blow.”

 

On being bothered by not playing late in the fourth quarter

“It bothers me, but I sat down with Coach Cosgrove and talked about Phil getting to play more now. He is a great player, he is getting even better, and he wants to get him going. He knows that Phil has a lot of ability and he can play, especially in the short yardage, goal-line stuff. He wants to get him in as much as he possibly can without affecting anything. But I have come to an understanding with it, especially with me not playing well as I have in the past. I look at it, and I think maybe I am not getting as many opportunities as I have in the past because I am not in the game as much, but it’s no excuse. It has really bothered me. I talked to Coach Cosgrove at 12:30 last night about it. It has bothered me. I know that my reps have gotten cut because we have other guys, and it kind of hurts. You can’t deny Phillip Dillard, he is a great player and you have to get him in there to get some reps. He is the future of this organization. He is going to be a stud coming back.”

 

On comparing this year's defense to past years

“I’ve talked to my father about it a lot. I’ve talked to my best friends. I went back and I watched just about every game from the last two years, and I see the differences. There’s a different scheme defensively. I understand that, and I sat with Coach Coz and talked to him a lot about it. One of my strengths is blitzing, and we can’t blitz. There are too many mental errors. If you blitz the way we blitz and play zone coverage with it, you’re very vulnerable. And if guys aren’t doing their jobs and making mental errors and missing assignments, you can’t blitz. You can’t beat people up the way Coach wants to, because if you try, you’re going to get burned just like the way we did against USC. Guys didn’t do their assignments and tried to blitz them. There were big holes. You saw it. That’s one of my strengths and if I can’t do that, it’s fine. He wants to use me in a lot of coverages to cover guys downfield. I’ll do it, and that’s what I’ve been doing. If you watch film and watch what’s going on, I’ve been downfield with a lot of guys and I don’t mind doing that. Whatever it takes to make us successful. Just production-wise, I haven’t gotten a lot of opportunities, but when I do I try to make the best of it. A lot of guys aren’t going to run it directly at (Ndamukong) Suh, and we know that. They’re going to try to stretch us outside. You saw WakeForest; everything they did was on the perimeter, and I’m just not getting the opportunities I have in the past.”

 

On media criticism of college players

“This is really just an issue; it’s really bothering me. I watched the whole thing (OklahomaState Coach Mike Gundy’s postgame press conference) and went home and watched it on YouTube again. I find it very interesting because he has a point. He brings up a great point. We’re not professional athletes, but in the same sense, I mean look around. People are losing jobs. Is it that much of a business? It’s supposed to be that you’re a student-athlete. It’s supposed to be school. It’s supposed to be fun, but in a lot of ways it’s a business. You have to do this, this is mandatory, you can’t miss this or this, you have to be here. I try to watch as much film as I can, but I barely have time. I have to go to class, I have to do all this, and I’m losing the student aspect in my life. That comes with the territory. You look at a student-athlete and all people look at is the football. They don’t care about anything else. If I miss a class or get a bad grade on a quiz, it’s not in the paper. Nobody cares about it. But (Bobby) Reid loses his starting job and this article comes out. I don’t know what’s true in it, and I don’t know what’s false. That coach could have been ?BSing’ just as much as the paper was. But you know what? He’s got a right to defend his player. He’s right. That guy is in hell right now. He competed the whole spring and the whole summer for his job, and he didn’t play up to his performance, and he lost it and it’s hard. He’s probably looking at things the same way I’m looking at things. I’m not getting my opportunities. And they have a great player to step up and play and an article comes out and downs him. If something comes out about one of my teammates that I don’t like, I’ll take their backs to the fullest. The coach did what he was supposed to do as a leader and as a head coach of his football team. I have a lot of respect for that. He’s willing to go to bat for his players.”

 

On the business aspect of football

“It’s no one’s personal fault, not in this organization nor any other. It’s no joke that college football makes a lot of money for universities, especially this one. With the great fans that we have, we sell out every game. That’s big, and it’s important for this state to win. But when you get to a point when you’re 3-1 and your one loss is to the No. 1 team in the country ? and we come back the next week and pull out a win at the last second ?  it’s still a win, and you’re being scrutinized for being 3-1. People aren’t looking at it like it’s fun college football; they’re looking at ?they’re not getting the job done so we need to find people who are.’ That’s the business. That’s NFL. That’s trading players, and you can’t do that. This is college football. This isn’t supposed to be a giant organization that when things aren’t going well, you take someone out and find someone new right away. This is a team, this is school spirit, this is people coming together to play football and have fun. Look at Sean Hill, my roommate, he’s a walk-on. For five years, he didn’t do anything, but he gets here and he’s having a great time playing. That hasn’t reached him yet, and I’m jealous of him. I look at him and I see a kid, that after working his butt off for four years, he’s not getting any scholarship. He’s not getting paid. He’s working his butt off and he gets this shot and he makes the most of it. That’s what this is supposed to be about, not about firing people or being scrutinized on the way you’re playing. We’re 3-1. I’m happy where we are. We’re going 3-1 into a conference game. I’ll take that any time. I’ll take that any year especially after playing the No. 1 team in the country. I would have liked to play better, I would have liked to play better last week, but I’ll take 3-1. Everyone is looking at the stats and not looking at the team. It kind of bothers me.”

 

On high expectations

“We set our own goals. People fall short, and we’re not going to fall short. We’re still gunning for our No. 1 goal ? being the Big 12 champions, so no goals are set too high. The bar is not too high at Nebraska. It’s just a lot of outside pressure, and that’s what people feel. That’s the consensus I hear. Maybe we’re not as good as we thought we were, but that’s not the case.”

 

On struggling programs across the country

“This isn’t a down year for Nebraska. We’re 3-1, and people are looking at it like we haven’t won. They’re looking at us like Notre Dame, like we’re 0-4 and having a rebuilding year. That’s not the case.”

 

On the ability to win a Big 12 championship with the current defensive performance

 “Probably not, especially with the way the Big 12 is playing. IowaState beat Iowa a week ago. Anything could happen. You never know. This defense could pull it together. We could have five turnovers next week, hold them under 100 yards and play our butts off. It could go the other way. I know this defense is coming together to stop it. We came in to BallState, and we were beaten up from SC. You don’t see it. You don’t see Tierre Green struggling to put his pads on in the locker room to go out and practice. You don’t see his teammates helping him pull his jersey, his Blackshirt, over so he can put his pads on. You don’t see that. He goes out and works his butt off, as hard as he can, so he could prepare for BallState. Lydon Murtha, he went down this week. He could have easily sat this game out with injury, and he didn’t. That’s the stuff people don’t see. People only see the game, and that’s one thing that I really, really feel sorry for people. I wish they could be in the locker room, and I wish they could see what people are going through. Seeing Andy Sand ? every time he hits someone, his shoulder is busted out of place. No one knows that. These guys, they fight and the persevere and they get through stuff. You see Steve Octavien, and his calf was cramping up so badly, he couldn’t even walk. But he’s taking IVs at halftime and drinking all this stuff that’s disgusting, just so he could get out on the field and help his team. People don’t see that. You get the injury report, you look at it, and you see that guys are hurt and banged up, but you see them out on the field. Larry Asante thought he had broken three of his ribs, but he was out there on the next play. These kids are tough. It’s not like they’re not trying or they’re not good. It’s not that.”

 

On finding motivation

“I think it starts in practice. We have a lot of great players. But if you don’t get excited to play ball, even during the week, it makes it harder for the next guy. If one guys is down in the dumps and not doing what he wants to do and he’s feeling it ? he’s tired, he’s injured, he’s still trying to play, his energy level is low ? and the guy next to him thinks ?he’s dogging it a little bit; maybe I can dog it a little bit’...it starts that way. Coach Cosgrove put a smile on my face. He came in there and said ?We’re going to have some fun this week. We’re going to work hard, and we’re going to have some fun in practice.’ It lifted my spirits. It took a huge weight off my shoulder because that’s exactly what I was thinking. But we’re not having fun, especially when you’re getting your butt kicked. You’re not having fun on the field. It’s one thing to have a big play spark the enthusiasm, but you should have the enthusiasm from the get-go. If you don’t have that, then what’s the point of being out there? You want to get your butt kicked and get sore for nothing? I go out there to have fun. If the guys around me aren’t having fun, it’s hard for me to have fun.”

 

On approaching football as a job
“It’s a little bit of both. I go out ready to work. But at the same time, I know I’m there to have fun. You have to put it in the work to get ready for the game. That’s the mindset I try to carry. If you go out there and you’re having too much fun and not really concentrating, then you’re not going to get the plays down. You’re not going to understand what’s going on with why we’re doing stuff. You have to go out there with a 70/30 ? 30 percent knowing that you have to stay focused and 70 percent have fun, be enthusiastic, get your teammates into it.”

 

On seeing a response from the defense

“I know our defense. I know that they’re going to answer the call. Seeing Steve (Octavien) get fired up after the game, it really picked up some of our players. I’m excited.”

 

On changes in Nebraska football in the last five years

“I can’t say it’s really changed. I can say this is the first time in my career actually playing that we haven’t had the support. It’s hard enough to win games in today’s college football, but if you don’t have the support of the fans, your classmates, your university, it’s hard to go play ball like that. Regardless of what people think, it’s about coming together. It’s about all of us, including the fans, including everyone, going to play the game on Saturday, and having pride in your university, your state and your team. That’s everyone. I don’t understand why people would want to go against something they care about so much.”

 

On evaluating his own role

“The same things drive me. Last night, I had the game on TiVO, and I put it on. I watched the (USC) game again. My dad sends me all the DVDs. He buys all the DVDs after every game here. I put those in and I watch and I try to figure out what’s the difference. It was hard for me to pinpoint after the SC game. I could see it after the SC game that guys were working hard, really wanted to win that game and wanted to play their butts off. I think they put a little too much on the line. Losing is losing. It happens. But after playing the way we did, it hurt. I think guys were hurt really emotionally and spiritually. But you know what? It’s the enthusiasm, the energy level, it has to pick up. If it doesn’t, then things could get really ugly. But at the same time, I’m not worried about it. It’s not time to laugh; it’s time to get better. The things that are going wrong can easily be fixed. That’s the exciting part about it. All we have to do is go out and do it. We’re going to have a great plan, we’re going to come in and go as hard as we can against IowaState. We’re going to get things corrected, and we’re going to get back to playing Blackshirt ball.”

 

On NFL mentalities in the college game

“It’s difficult. I was thinking about this, and I talked to a couple of former players. If you’re a professional player, you go out and a whole city knows you ? little kids know you, adults know you, everyone knows you. It’s very similar to the way it is in Nebraska. At the same time, they’re not your peers. You don’t go to work with those people the next day. You don’t have to face those people every day. After a terrible game when I feel like I play like garbage, the coaches aren’t the only ones who get e-mails and people talk about. It’s the players, too. I get just as much as Coach Cosgrove does. They say the same things that everyone else says. They want answers. People want answers. But the difference with NFL players, they don’t have to sit with the people that want the answers the next day. They go back to work, and it’s their teammates. They face the media, they do all that, but you don’t have to sit in a classroom with them. It’s a little different, especially when you take it to heart the way I do and the way I know this defense has. Don’t get me wrong ? we have a lot of guys playing great ball. Sam (Keller) is playing phenomenally. He’s leading the offense. Zach Potter on defense is playing great. With Coach Callahan, what he knows is the NFL. He’s a professional coach. He treats his players like adults, and he expects them to handle their business. That’s the way it should be. When we’re not doing that, it’s difficult for him to gauge where the team is. When we’re not doing what we’re supposed to be doing, how’s he supposed to do what he’s supposed to be doing? If we’re not doing the right thing, it makes it very difficult on the coaches. That’s why it really bothers me when people point the finger at Coach Cosgrove ? all this garbage on the Internet and all the blogs. It’s garbage. There’s no one else I’d rather have leading our defense, hands down. I couldn’t play for anybody else. With the way he coaches and the way we’re going to get back on track, I’m not worried. I just hope our team is ready to respond.”